Apple, Samsung and six more companies sued over Carrier IQ scandal

Apple, HTC, Samsung, Motorola, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Carrier IQ have been sued in a federal court by what the lawyers involved have deemed a “cell phone tracking software scandal.” Law firms Sianni & Straite LLP, EichenCrutchlowZaslow & McElroy LLP, and Keefe Bartels L.L.C. have jointly filed a class action complaint in a Delaware Federal Court related to the “unprecedented breach of the digital privacy rights of 150 million cell phone users.” The complaint suggests that the aforementioned carriers and vendors violated the Federal Wiretap Act, the Stored Electronic Communications Act, and the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The suit of course refers to the companies’ use of Carrier IQ, the carrier and vendor-implemented cell phone spywarediscovered recently on a number of handsets from multiple manufacturers. Read on for more.

“This latest revelation of corporate America’s brazen disregard for the digital privacy rights of its customers is yet another example of the escalating erosion of liberty in this country,” David Straite, one of the lawyers leading this crusade, said in a statement. “We are hopeful that the courts will allow ordinary customers the opportunity to remedy this outrageous breach.” His co-counsel Steve Grygiel added, “Anyone who cares at all about their personal privacy, or the broader constitutional right to privacy, ought to care and care a great deal about this case.” The firms’ joint press release follows below.

The carriers and manufacturers were caught last month willfully violating customers’ privacy rights in direct violation of federal law. A technology blogger in Connecticut discovered that software designed and sold by California-based Carrier IQ, Inc. was secretly tracking personal and sensitive information of the cell phone users without the consent or knowledge of the users. On Nov. 30, 2011, the United StatesSenate Committee on the Judiciary said in a letter to Carrier IQ that “these actions may violate federal privacy laws.” It added, “this is potentially a very serious matter.”

David Straite, one of the attorneys leading the action, noted “this latest revelation of corporate America’s brazen disregard for the digital privacy rights of its customers is yet another example of the escalating erosion of liberty in this country. We are hopeful that the courts will allow ordinary customers the opportunity to remedy this outrageous breach.” Steve Grygiel, co-counsel for the proposed class, agreed: “anyone who cares at all about their personal privacy, or the broader constitutional right to privacy, ought to care and care a great deal about this case.” Barry Eichen added, “today’s comment from Larry Lenhart, CEO of Carrier IQ, that his software is somehow good for consumers starkly demonstrates what is at stake.”

A copy of the Class Action Complaint in Pacilli v. Carrier IQ, Inc. can be viewed on the Firms’ websites at http://www.siannistraite.com, www.keefebartels.com, and www.njadvocates.com.

Plaintiffs are represented by Sianni & Straite LLP, a Delaware-based litigation firm with a branch office in New York, Keefe Bartels LLC, a New Jersey-based plaintiffs’ rights trial law firm, and EichenCrutchlowZaslow & McElroy LLP, a leading plaintiffs firm with three offices in New Jersey.